Unlike movies, where it’s rare that a second (or third) attempt at remaking a film can ever match—let alone top—the original, music is a different sort of creative beast. Just because The Beatles did a bang-up job on one song doesn’t mean that Joan Baez or Elvis Presley couldn’t do the same tune justice in their own unique way. Which is a very good thing, as The Beatles’s catalog is one of the most copied in music history. While not an exhaustive list, here are 10 of the most covered songs.
YESTERDAY – THE BEATLES
“Yesterday” has been covered more than 2200 times, with Joan Baez, Liberace, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, En Vogue, and Boyz II Men among the many (many) artists to put their own spin on the song. Plus, you know you’ve made it as a band when even Daffy Duck gets in on the action.
(I CAN’T GET NO) SATISFACTION – THE ROLLING STONES
This classic Rolling Stones song has been redone by a diverse array of artists, including Jimi Hendrix, Devo, and Vanilla Ice. It was also famously covered by Britney Spears at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards before she launched into “Oops! I Did It Again.”
LOVE ME TENDER – ELVIS PRESLEY
“Love Me Tender” was a hit long before Elvis and songwriter Ken Darby changed the title and the lyrics. The song became popular during the Civil War under the name “Aura Lee,” but it was the version that was altered in 1956 that would go on to become covered by other musicians time and time again. The range of artists who have covered it—everyone from Julie Andrews and Johnny Cash to Jim Morrison—shows just how versatile it is.
BILLIE JEAN – MICHAEL JACKSON
When “Billie Jean” was released in 1983, it became the first song to hit #1 on four pop charts simultaneously. The song is still one of MJ’s most popular and most covered, with at least 143 recorded versions floating around out there. And yes, that includes the Chipmunks.
ELEANOR RIGBY – THE BEATLES
A somewhat surprising choice, considering The Beatles’s other hits, but it’s been covered 131 times by artists such as Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, Kansas, and Swedish industrial metal band Pain.
MY WAY – FRANK SINATRA
The ironic part of Sinatra’s “My Way” is how many of the artists who covered the song didn’t do it Frank’s way. But with at least 152 covers in existence, from country to punk, a little variation is to be expected. (Just avoid doing a karaoke version.)
BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER – SIMON AND GARFUNKEL
According to Secondhand Songs, there are nearly 600 versions of this seminal Simon and Garfunkel ballad. Released in January 1970, the sweeping epic was immediately covered by both Johnny Mathis and Stevie Wonder just a few weeks later.
AIN’T NO SUNSHINE – BILL WITHERS
Withers wrote “Ain’t No Sunshine” while he was working as an aircraft mechanic. The hit song propelled him onto the music scene and we’ve heard versions ever since, including from Paul McCartney, Adam Levine, and DMX.
Fun fact: Withers didn’t originally intend to say the famous “I know” line 26 times; it was just a placeholder for lyrics that he eventually planned to pen. But a gaggle of legendary musicians happened to be in the studio while he was recording, including Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, and Booker T., and they told him it was great. “They were all these people with all this experience and all these reputations, and I was this factory worker in here just sort of puttering around. So when their general feeling was, ‘leave it like that,’ I left it like that,” Withers said.
HALLELUJAH – LEONARD COHEN
After being featured in every TV drama and sweeping cinematic moment, Leonard Cohen himself once agreed with a suggestion that maybe it was time to retire “Hallelujah” and its endless cover versions. Cohen also found it amusing that the song received so much attention, because his record label refused to release the album it was originally on. He later changed his mind about the covers, saying, “once or twice I’ve felt maybe I should lend my voice to silencing it but on second thought no, I’m very happy that it’s being sung.”
AND I LOVE HER – THE BEATLES
The original song is from one of The Beatles’s earlier albums, A Hard Day’s Night, and has since been reworked by Bob Marley, Smokey Robinson, Sarah Vaughan, Barry Manilow, and Vince Gill, among numerous others.
Leave a Reply